Studies and Reports

Understanding Liability Risk from Using Health Care Artificial Intelligence Tools

New England Journal of Medicine; Michelle M. Mello, J.D., Ph.D., and Neel Guha, M.S.Medical malpractice is a common cause of personal injury lawsuits in the United States. Every year, tens of thousands of paym Optimism about the explosive potential of artificial intelligence (AI) to transform medicine is tempered by worry about what it may mean for the clinicians being “augmented.” One question is especially problematic because it may chill adoption: when AI contributes to patient injury, who will be held responsible?

States Most Affected By Medical Malpractice

Sarah Edwards

Medical malpractice is a common cause of personal injury lawsuits in the United States. Every year, tens of thousands of payments are made on medical malpractice lawsuits. However, these costs are not spread equally. Forbes Legal has gathered state-by-state data about the number of malpractice payments, the number of adverse action reports and cost-of-living adjusted payments per capita. After collating these numbers, the states were ranked in each category.

JUDICIAL HELLHOLES: How Certain Courts Enable Litigation Tourism

American Tort Reform Foundation 

Since 2002, the American Tort Reform Foundation’s (ATRF) Judicial Hellholes® program has identified and documented places where judges in civil cases systematically apply laws and court procedures in an unfair and unbalanced manner, generally to the disadvantage of defendants. More recently, as the lawsuit industry has aggressively lobbied for legislative and regulatory expansions of liability, as well, the Judicial Hellholes® report has evolved to include such law- and rule-making activity, much of which can affect the fairness of any given jurisdiction’s civil justice climate as readily as judicial actions.

MEDICAL LIABILITY REFORM NOW!

American Medical Association

The broken medical liablity system remains one of the most vexing issues for physicans today. It places a wedge between physicians and their patients

Costly Mistakes: How Bad Policies Raise the Cost of Living

The Heritage Foundation

Government policy mistakes significantly raise the prices of consumer goods. The 12 costly policy mistakes discussed in this paper add $4,440 a year to the annual expenses of the average American family. Most policy mistakes raise costs by limiting supply. Policymakers can lower the cost of living by removing unnecessary regulations and licensure requirements, streamlining bureaucracy, and ending protections that have been granted to favored industries

Overview of the 2015 American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists’ Survey on Professional Liability

Andrea M. Carpentieri, MA; James J. Lumalcuri, MSW; Jennie Shaw, MPH; and Gerald F. Joseph Jr, MD

The 2015 Survey on Professional Liability is the twelfth survey conducted since 1983 to assess the effects of professional liability litigation and related liability insurance issues on the practice of obstetrics and gynecology. The entire population of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) Fellows and Junior Fellows in practice in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico were surveyed.

Physician Spending and Subsequent Risk of Malpractice Claims: Observational Study

British Medical Journal

Critics of the US malpractice system often note that it promotes defensive medicine—defined as medical care provided to patients solely to reduce the threat of malpractice liability rather than to further diagnosis or treatment. Physicians report defensive medicine as a major contributor to healthcare costs, and commonly argue that they must practice defensively to reduce malpractice liability.

America’s Emergency Care Environment, A State-by-State Report Card

American College of Emergency Physicians

For millions of Americans who experience sudden, serious illness or injury every year—and in the increasing scores of communities that must respond to disasters and mass casualty events —immediate access to quality emergency care is essential to saving life and limb. But the availability of that care is threatened by a wide range of factors, including shrinking capacity and an ever-increasing demand for services.